Original Vintage African M'bute Pygmy Barkcloth / Bark Cloth Textile

An original vintage traditional painted bark cloth / textile panel made by the M'bute Pygmy people of the Ituri Rain Forest of the Congo. The barkcloth is made from the hand-beaten inner bark of trees. e.g. fig trees. The panel is decorated / dyed / painted with organic pigments (e.g. juice of the gardenia seed or charcoal) with abstract tribal imagery (geometric designs with linear lines, etc.) that expresses the life, motion, sound and shape of their forest. The Pygmy Mbuti people of the Congo rainforests originally used these as loin cloths and blankets | Approx. Size: 31" L x 13" W | Provenance: From the Prominent Ethnographic Art Collection of Stefan Petrescu, Sarasota, Florida & Nashville, TN; prior Canadian Museum Deaccession.